MILLEDGE LUSHINGTON COOPER
NOV 7, 1914 - JUN 30, 1993

Son of: Charles Robinson Cooper and Mary Ann Matthews Cooper

Wife: Dorthy Margret Barrow

Children
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Father's page

Biography

1914- Milledge (Bill) was born in Harold, Florida on November 7, 1914. He was the third and last child of three children born to Charles Robinson Cooper and Mary Ann Matthews.

1920- Bill at the age of 6 and his older brother, Marshall, age 8, went to live with their grandparents James Fountain Cooper and Lucyann Missouri Levins Cooper. Milledge's parents were going through a lengthy and difficult divorce and Milledge's father thought it best that he and his older brother stay with their grandparents. Bills older sister, Clara, stayed  with one of his father's younger sisters, Lorina Cooper, and her husband Floyd Mollie Cooper, Sr.

1928- Bill's older brother, Marshall, joined the Navy at the age of 16 after his father had signed the necessary papers allowing him to do so while Bill continued to live at his grandparents home for a while and then moved back to his father's home. His father was, at that time, married to his third wife, Viola, and owned and operated three stores in Flomaton, Alabama. Bill attended school in Flomaton at that time.

1930- Based on Federal Census records, Bill, his older brother Marshall, his father and stepmother, Viola, where register in Century, Escambia County, Florida.

1934- At the age of 20, Bill enlist in the Army Cavalry.

1936- At the age of 22 Bill re-enlisted for the Air Corps. He served on Corregidor in the Philippine Islands from 1936 through 1938.

1940s- In World War II, he was attached to the Caribbean Air Command and flew on missions as a flight engineer.

1943- Bill and Dot (Dorthy Margret Barrow Cooper) had their first child, Jimmy Flynn Cooper, on August 3, 1943 in Marianna, Florida.

After the war, he served in New Orleans, Alaska and Europe. He participated in the Berlin Airlift, for which he was awarded the Humane Action Medal.

He later worked for NASA where he received several awards for innovative designs that were used in the early space fights.

1963- Bill and Dot had their second child, Scottie Joe Laine Cooper, on February 17, 1963 in Pensacola, Florida.

1964- Bill and Dot had their third and last child, Patricia Page Cooper, on October 19, 1964 in Pensacola, Florida.

One of the things that I remember the most about my Uncle Bill was that he loved to fish and was very good at it.
(Miles Davis Cooper)

1993- On June 30, 1993 Bill passed away. Bill's final resting place is in the Barrancas National Cemetery at the Naval Base in Pensacola, Florida.

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